Firm! Indonesian Ministry Of Foreign Affairs Calls Aid To Afghanistan Humanitarian, Not Recognition Of The Taliban Government

Illustration-(Screenshot Youtube @CNN Indonesia)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Kemlu) emphasized that the government's move to send humanitarian aid to the Afghan people on Sunday, January 9 was not an acknowledgment of the government of the Taliban group.

The Director General of Information and Public Diplomacy of the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Teuku Faizasyah, explained that the delivery of aid to Afghanistan was accompanied by a team from Jakarta and assisted by an essential team originally in Islamabad, as humanitarian assistance.

In addition, this activity also includes activities to protect Indonesian citizens (WNI). A number of Indonesian citizens who worked for United Nations (UN) agencies have returned to work in Afghanistan.

“We would like to re-emphasize that up to now, no country has recognized the current government in Afghanistan. However, on the other hand... almost all countries engage in engagement with the Taliban, including in this case western countries such as the United States and the European Union," Faizasyah said during a press conference in Jakarta, Antara, Thursday, January 13.

It is important to distinguish humanitarian aid and recognition of the Taliban rule.

As previously reported, the Indonesian government, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, sent humanitarian aid to the people of Afghanistan last Sunday.

The humanitarian aid, which was sent using two planes and released directly by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Retno Marsudi, contained the food and nutritional needs needed by the Afghan people.

The aid was provided by Indonesia in response to the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the country, where 23 million people are at risk of starvation and more than 3 million children are at risk of malnutrition.

According to Faizasyah, currently his party is still monitoring the distribution of humanitarian aid carried out by the World Food Program, the UN's humanitarian agency.